Saturday, July 12, 2008

The MyPyramid~A Great Way to Stay Healthy!

Hey Girl Bloggers!I don’t know about you, but sometimes I worry that I’m not eating the right foods to stay healthy. That’s why I find the MyPyramid (pictured above) to be incredibly helpful! You can go to the online interactive MyPyramid Plan to help you choose the right foods and amounts for you. You just enter your age, gender, and how often you exercise to find out what you should be doing. It helps you to make healthy choices and find a balance between food and exercise.If you don’t already know about the MyPyramid it’s an updated version of the old U.S. Food Guide Pyramid. The different colors stand for the different food groups and how much you need from each of them. Orange stands for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, yellow for oils and fats, blue for dairy, and purple for meats, beans, fish, and poultry.Also you can tell from the picture that all the colors are different widths. For example green is a lot wider than yellow because you need lots of vegetables every day, but you should limit how much oils and fats you have. The reason why all these colors are there is because you need to choose a variety of foods from each group. Also the figure going up the steps alongside the colors is a reminder to get daily exercise. Teen girls should get at least 60 minutes of exercise every day. I like riding my bike, taking my dogs for walks, and playing badminton. Do any of you girls have fun exercises you like to do?Sometimes I find it hard to get enough fruits every day. If you have a blender at home making a smoothie is a great way to get your “red” colors! This is one I particularly like:

Be sure to use 100% real cranberry juice, not the sugary cocktail kind. Real cranberry juice is great for your urinary tract and helps keep you healthy. Strawberries are rich in Vitamin C and in phenols and antioxidants which protect the cell structures in your body.Do you girls have any great healthy recipes you’d like to share?